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Dec 10, 20206 min read

How would a Biden administration’s stance on China differ from Trump’s?

By: Sydney Carroll


President-elect Joe Biden’s win symbolized a major turning point for not only America but the rest of the world. Whereas President Donald Trump was a complete departure both at home and abroad in policy from any previous administration, President-elect Biden has made it clear that he intends to return America to Obama-era policies. This includes an increased focus on improving US foreign policy, where Biden will most certainly attempt to repair many of the relationships across the globe that were threatened or even completely severed during the Trump Administration. Arguably the United States’ largest threat in foreign policy remains to be China; with who America has had particularly tumultuous relations over the past four years.


How were US-China relations affected during the Trump Administration?

While campaigning prior to his 2016 victory, President Trump vowed to be tough on China. President Trump certainly kept that promise, in fact, one of his first actions as President was to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Specifically, he felt that while the group’s goal was to impose greater restrictions on China, they actually did the opposite. The years that followed were marked by increasing tariffs on Chinese goods, such as steel, aluminum, and other vital Chinese goods. While these tariffs were originally intended to protect American interests, they actually ended up costing Americans on average an extra $419 per household as per a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Then, of course, these sanctions spiraled from isolated actions to a large scale trade war, in which the US imposed tariffs on roughly $550 billion worth of Chinese goods. According to the Brookings Institution, the trade war was in an effort to “implement significant changes to aspects of its economic system that facilitate unfair Chinese trade practices, including forced technology transfer, limited market access, intellectual property theft, and subsidies to state-owned enterprises.” In December, both the US and China signed Phase One of a trade agreement, agreeing that the US would roll back tariffs on China in exchange for the greater purchase of American goods on the Chinese side. The trade war went out with a whimper rather than a bang, as the COVID-19 pandemic soon overshadowed any other global events. In the end, it’s estimated that the trade war cost US businesses $1.7 trillion dollars, which only further exacerbated economic stress from the pandemic.


What is the current state of US-China relations?

US-China relations are currently considered to be, as said by the BBC, at their “lowest point in decades”. With everything from the potential banning of TikTok in the US to accusations of economic espionage, anti-Chinese sentiment has grown across America. This was coupled with even greater uncertainty regarding China’s reporting on the early stages of the coronavirus, with a US Intelligence Investigation concluding in April that China both falsified their case numbers and failed to report when the virus actually appeared in their provinces. Once President-elect Biden was officially declared successor to the Oval Office, it took Chinese Leader Xi-Jinping nearly 3 weeks to congratulate him on his win. Vox Media speculated that “China was simply waiting to see if Trump would concede, or didn’t want to seem too enthusiastic.” Regardless of intention, it’s clear that China foresees a new age of relations under a Biden Administration rather than Trump.


What has Biden said about his plans for China?

Biden plans to be tough on China in collaboration with other Asian and European countries, even referring to President Xi as a ‘thug’ multiple times during Presidential Debates. Just last week, he vowed to make it “real clear to China there are international rules that if you want to play by, we'll play with you. If you don't, we're not going to play.” Biden has also heavily disapproved of the way the Trump Administration has dealt with China over the past 4 years, calling it ‘backwards’, such as the antagonistic stance Trump took towards China’s leaders, and Trump’s emphasis on isolationism in dealing with China. He believes that the relationships he’s built with Jinping and other Chinese leaders will lead to a more communicative relationship between the US and China.


How will Biden deal with technological disputes with China?

China’s use of technology has long posed issues for the US, as their accomplishments in cyber defense and attacking as well as other sectors rival that of any other nation across the globe. However, China has more recently been utilizing these technological accomplishments to harm the interests of the US, most recently hacking into the campaigns of both President-elect Biden and President Trump. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Biden’s China tech plan is to take a stronger defense and a quieter offense.” This means that Biden will be largely combative towards any Chinese tech, which largely differs from President Trump’s stance that China’s only threat towards American interests is trade. This could be significantly beneficial for both America and other countries across the globe, as using US technological infrastructure is one of the only ways in which China’s accomplishments may be rivaled.


How will Biden work with other countries to tackle China?

Arguably the largest difference between Trump and Biden’s approach to Chinese relations is that Biden plans to employ multilateralism, or creating an alliance with other countries to pursue a common goal, in his efforts. Trump used more of a “go at it alone approach, which often involved attacking the US’ closest allies,” as described by Business Insider Biden, however, realizes the power of working with those allies against a common cause. He plans to mirror the approach of the European Union to dealing with China, through settling trade disputes through organizations like the World Trade Organization or G20. This doesn’t just apply to economic disputes, as Biden plans to work with other nations and organizations on issues with China such as its alleged genocide of Uighur Muslims and issues of intellectual property theft. This potential has been praised by the US’ allies, Democrats, and even the GOP. A recent report released by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee discussed similar strategies involving America and the EU combating China. Committee Chairman Republican Senator Jim Risch stated in the report, “It is our populations—the U.S. and Europe—that built the world order of today, not China. The world order that we have, based on democracy and based on the rule of law, is where this planet should go if it’s going to have a future.” Altogether, Biden’s multilateral approach looks more promising than Trump’s isolated strategy, garnering bipartisan and global support.


Will Biden continue to pose economic sanctions on China?

Biden will most certainly impose economic sanctions on China - but not without rolling back Trump’s first. Biden’s administration referred to Trump’s tariffs as “clumsy, costly and unstrategic”. This doesn’t mean that Biden won’t impose economic sanctions on China. Biden’s plan, rather, is to impose sanctions on specific Chinese industries: big tech, automotive, and other manufacturing powerhouses, as well as Chinese corporations such as Huawei and ByteDance. Unlike Trump, Biden could be swayed to not impose sanctions. He could potentially come to compromises with China on issues such as “climate change, intellectual property, and military expansionism” that would involve an agreement to not impose tariffs or taxes on China. Biden’s ability to use economic sanctions on China to achieve compromises rather than simply antagonize them certainly poses a stark contrast to Trump’s stance on China.


While the Biden Administration looks to make significant changes to domestic policy, it’s their renewed stance on foreign policy that will change the way the US is perceived both at home and abroad. Through differences in their stance on China such as greater international collaboration, more compromise, and a focus on holding China accountable for their actions, Biden’s policy towards China is most certainly a divergence from the Trump Administration’s stance. There’s no doubt that this could prove to be effective in reining in China’s power and retaining the security of the US, but only time will tell for Biden’s success.


Discussion Questions:

  • Has tension between America and China further complicated America’s economic crisis?

  • Was Trump wholly responsible for increased tension between China and the US?

  • Will Biden’s plans for foreign policy yield more productive results in China?

  • How has China applied increasing pressure to the US in the past few years?


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